SLIPKNOT's PAUL GRAY Talks About Early Influences, Upcoming Touring Plans

SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray recently spoke to Peavey.com about his playing technique and his early influences after he first picked up a bass guitar. Asked how long he has been playing bass and what his most formative influences were along the way, Paul replied, "I started playing bass in 1990, but I started playing guitar in like '85 or '86. I switched to bass when I moved to Iowa because I basically didn't have any friends and I was in this music store checking out guitars and heard this guy talking about needing a bass player. He mentioned some bands they cover, and it was like SLAYER and stuff like that, and I knew all those songs on guitar so I'm like, 'I guess I can play them on bass,' so I told them I played bass — I'd never played bass in my life! So I switched to bass, and that was it. From then on, I've been a bass player.

"I fell in love with bass because it's different. I had played guitar for so long, but bass was a whole different thing. My influences back then were anyone who was a bass player because I didn't know anything about actual bass playing. It was just watching anybody play and any little technique I could rip off of anybody."

With regards to why the group chose the Jägermeister Music Tour and Ozzfest — two very high profile tours — to kick off the return of SLIPKNOT, Gray said, "The Jäger Tour was perfect for us, because we were done with the album and it was a perfect time to get rolling, playing in somewhat smaller venues than we did on our last tour so we could reconnect with our fans. The whole Iowa tour was arenas and festivals, and it was big. We wanted to do these 2-, 3-, 4,000-seaters and get rolling again, and the bands we had with us were great: FEAR FACTORY, CHIMAIRA. After this we do METALLICA for six weeks in Europe and then we come back to do Ozzfest.

"We've done Ozzfest twice, and it's always a great time. This time we're playing the second stage again, and we chose to do that because it's general admission. Every venue except for five is seated and the majority of our fans (like to hang out) in the grass. Even though a lot of them would be in the seats, too, we still like that whole general admission vibe. That's why we wanted to do the second stage."

Read Paul Gray's interview with Peavey.com at this location.